It's Not Fair
by Gentle Hina
Summary: Minato didn't find it fair how those girls could group around Akihiko without being judged, nor did he find it fair that being a boy limited his relationship with him as well. Perhaps another cigarette will calm him down. 'Second thought.. make it a pack.
1. Chapter 1

Minato didn't find it fair. No, not one bit.

That feeling of unfairness quickly developed into pure envy, even cold jealousy that stung in such a bitter way.

It stung even worse when he would see the cause of it, a flock of simple minded girls, swarmed around Akihiko. Their giggles were that of painfully annoying, their voices causing the teen's frown to hang lower. Even so he thought them to be lucky.

They were girls, so it was of course seen as acceptable to flock around Akihiko. Now if a guy were to do it.. Well, that would be a different matter to others, one which Minato himself didn't quite get. How did girls make such a thing less creepy? How did it make it "innocent", even "cute"?

He supposed he wouldn't ever get a straight answer. He held in a sigh as the lunch bell rang loudly, prompting him to turn the volume of his MP3 player all the way; it was better than hearing any girls at the moment. In fact the teen was quite glad that Yukari, though a good friend, was sick. He was sure he wouldn't be able to deal with the energetic girl right now. But Junpei on the other hand was even more off the walls than usual much to Minato's dismay.

"Dude, you'll never guess what happened to me this morning!" Junpei nearly yelled, a large grin on his face.

_"Oh geez."_ The blue-haired boy thought as he held in a sigh, cranking the volume down. "What?"

The other teen was nearly bouncing at this point.

"I was kinda running late, right? Well I ended up bumping into this cute girl by accident, and she actually wanted to walk to school with me! Even gave me her number and everything! How awesome is that?" He leaned into Minato as if waiting to receive praise.

"That's great." Giving a small nod at the end Minato looked away from Junpei and proceeded to set the volume all the way back up, something that Junpei didn't like.

"Geez! You're never enthusiastic about anything, dude! Isn't there _something _that you like to talk about?" The hat wearing teen crossed his arms with a huff; lately Minato had been getting on his nerves, though no one was sure why.

A shrug came from the other. "I guess. You probably wouldn't know anything about it though." His dark eyes flickered over to the huffy teen in a snap, his usual frown almost twitching into a smirk of some sort.

This defiantly didn't set well with the other.

"Oh yeah? I bet it's pretty _stupid _anyway. See ya'." And with that Junpei stormed off.

The sigh Minato had tried to keep in slipped out. Why was Junpei getting so upset over simple things? What had he'd done to make him snap so easily? There had to be some explaination; Minato was sure he wouldn't be able to take the small tantrums much longer.

Having to juggle school, Tartarus, and his friends had begun to take a toll on the teen. If he wasn't studying he was battling Shadows and going to higher floors, and if he wasn't doing that he was hanging out with everyone and pleasing them. And, of course, fixing their problems. For some reason he'd become the therapist for everyone and this of course lead to everyone coming to him for help.

But no one would listen to him when _he _needed the help. There was no time for himself and as the days, even months, went on everything was starting to crumble inside him.

No one had time to let him get that suicidal thought here and there off his chest.

No one had time to let him vent when someone had used him, even wronged him completely.

No one even had time to let him make his _own _decisions. Minato didn't want to be the leader of the group; it wasn't as if he asked to be "gifted" or whatever when using his Persona! If it were up to him, he'd simply put Mitsuru in charge and leave it at that. Hell, even Junpei so he'd stop his annoying whining.

Shaking his head he got up from his head and begun to exit the classroom. He felt a small headache coming on; it wasn't surprising to him actually. It had been a while since he last smoked.

Ah yes, the smoking. He picked up the habit just a month ago and found himself going through almost two packs a day. Defiantly wasn't healthy, that was for sure, but it was the only thing he really had to relieve himself of stress and the like so he'd take the chances. He was especially glad that his charm had reached its' "max" the day before he bought that first pack. People really were suckers for charming people.

As he walked a dash faster in the hallway and as his mind began to wonder Minato slammed into someone whom had been unlucky to get in his path. Minato wasn't sure how bad the other person was hurt but he did know his theigh was going to hurt for a while; Was that person made out of steel or something?

The blue-haired boy had to stop himself from letting out a gasp as the person begun to help him up; of course his luck would do this to him! Standing infront of him and even brushing him off a bit was none other than Akihiko, who looked more concerned for Minato than himself.

"Arisato, you okay?"

Of course he wouldn't be called by his first name. Minato had kept telling himself that Akihiko wouldn't do such a thing but even so it left a pang in his chest.

"I'm fine. What about you?" He kept eye contact with the senior for a moment before turning his attention to his MP3 player. _"Thank goodness it's alright!" _He thought to himself in relief.

Akihiko gave a small chuckle. "Didn't faze me at all. But you _were _in quite a rush, huh? Meeting someone important?"

For a moment Minato was sure he saw something glint in the older teen's eyes but quickly dismissed it.

"No. Actually.. I was heading to the nurse. Not feeling too good." The blue-haired boy gave a small shrug before beginning to walk past the other, whom in turn followed suit.

"Do you need me to walk you there? I wouldn't want you running into something else." There was that concern in his voice again; it made Minato's heart flutter, even if for just a moment.

He stopped and turned to face Akihiko, a small smile on his fair face. "I can handle this myself. Go enjoy your lunch." After giving a light, playful shove Minato quickly went on his way, trying his best to get a good amount of distance between them.

Akihiko was just about to take a step forward when he noticed a strange smell. Was it coming from his vest..? A closer inspection confirmed it; there was a smoky smell on there.

"Where in the world did this come from?"The senior muttered to himself. He hadn't gone anywhere smoky, nor did he know anyone who smoked, so why in the world-

"Aki!" A unision of high pitched voices called out a ways back.

A soft sigh escaped from Akihiko. _"I'll have to think about this later when I've gotten away from these girls..." _

* * *

AkihikoxMinato is my OTP for Persona 3 and I don't see a lot of love for it ;; A ;; So I've decided to contribute to the small things of fanfiction for it. This will actually have multiple chapters, though I can't promise any set date for updates yet.

Minato is a smoker in this, yes. u v u Me and my friend had a conversation about it, and it just kinda fits him.

Forgive me if there's some errors in here; it's almost 1AM and I'm really tired, ha ha. :'D So I'll be sure to fix this later. Also I would appreciate reviews~ I'd like to know what you guys think so far, and if there's anything you'd like to see in this!


	2. Chapter 2

That day, Minato had only planned to smoke one cigarette. But then it started to go down hill.

He didn't pay attention for once in class and found himself being called on by , ending up getting the answer wrong and greatly embarassing himself.

That tacked on a cigarette.

Junpei shot him glares at lunch and proceeded to tell lies about the blue-haired boy to make him look good infront of some girls and some guys.

Take on another cigarette.

Kenji came to him for love advice and ended up talking about Emiri for the whole time they had hung out, even asking when Minato was going to get a girlfriend. ("_Or boyfriend, whichever way you swing!_")

Another cigarette was tacked on after that little meeting.

At the dorm Minato had to listen to Yukari complain about Mitsuru, ("_She's so stuck up, seriously!_"), listen to a rather long lecture from Mitsuru shortly after about keeping grades up, deal with a passive-agressive Junpei, and had to listen to Akihiko tell him the "importance of training" and such.

In the end of that rendezvous seven cigarettes were tacked on. So, after counting, Minato found that he had smoked ten additional cigarettes. This was turning into a problem.

After finishing up the eleventh one in his room he opened a window and started a fan to relieve the room of the rather strong smoke. It wouldn't do good for his room to smell like cigarettes and wouldn't fall good with Mitsuru in the slightest. Or anyone in the dorm for that matter. Well, maybe.

_"Not like they'd really care or anything. They'd just want me to stop because of the smell..."_

There came a negative thought again and another need for a smoke. For this one he leaned out of his open window, softly blowing the smoke through his light lips. Once he was donne with this one he'd have to change into his night clothes, maybe even take a quick shower before so he wouldn't smell. Throwing the cigarette out the window, putting it out before doing so, he got his night clothes and began to walk towards his bedroom door before a soft knock made him pause.

"Arisato? You awake?"

Why didn't it surprise him that it was Akihiko?

"Just a moment." He softly answered back, grabbing his clothes before opening the door.

"I noticed you left your notebook on the table downstairs, and I figured it'd be important," At this he held it out to the shorter one, "So I decided to bring it up to you."

Minato gave a nod, his frown a bit lighter than usual. Taking the notebook he gave a soft, small smile.

"Thank you very much, Sanada." He gave a short-quick bow before inching out his door and shutting it behind him.

Akihiko gave a smile back as he shook his head.

"It was my pleasure. Well.." An awkward rub of his head. "Night Arisato." The white-haired boy turned around to leave before stopping and turning around once more.

"Arisato?"

"Hmm?" The younger teen asked as he begun to lock his door.

"I noticed a smokey smell coming from your clothes, and I was wondering where it came from. It was pretty strong, so.." Akihiko seemed to look a bit.. nervous? This was weird.

"Oh," Minato gave a shrug, "Some restaurants I go to have smoking areas." He checked the door to make sure the lock was working before looking at the senior again.

"That so? Guess that explains it. Sleep well." Giving an unsure, perhaps questioning wave, the teen retreated to his room.

As soon as Akihiko was in his room and had shut the door Minato quickly hurried to the showers, trying his hardest to keep a composed face.

_"Too close!" _The blue-haired boy thought as he reached the bathroom door, locking it behind him. He carefully took off his MP3 player and set it aside in a safe place so it wouldn't get wet.

Minato couldn't believe he'd been so careless! How could he have forgotten to wash up his clothes? If Akihiko hadn't believed that make-shift lie he would have gotten in so much trouble! One more slip up like that was sure to blow everything for him. Plus if he was found out his teammates would never leave him alone and would certainly force him to quit; then how would he relieve stress? He stripped down, harshly throwing his clothes off into a corner, and stepped into the shower, quickly turning it on and cranking it as hot as it would go.

Now, to clear things up, it wasn't like Minato went straight to smoking to relieve stress. He had tried taking his anger out in Kendo, which only worked for a while and, seeing as it ended up with a couple of people getting hurt, he put a stop to it.

He then tried track, which only worked for a week before doing nothing for him and, honestly, Kaz was beginning to totally freak him out. He decided shortly after to just start punching a pillow after school to get out some anger but, let's be honest here, that never did shit for him. He even tried drawing, only for him to learn he.. wasn't an artist, and his feelings were never really conveyed through his art. It was _only _after those things that he resorted to cigarettes.

As he began to put shampoo in his hair he thought that perhaps if he had never met that kid after school the thought of smoking would have never crossed his mind. Minato remembered the whole thing quite clearly, even how that kid smirked at him.

* * *

_The crisp air on the school roof caressed the junior's cheek with absolute gentleness, the light wind lovingly blowing his blue hair back. Sadly, such a nice day didn't please him nor did it bring a smile to his fair face._

_He was running out of options fast. Nothing was working as a stress relief and if he didn't find one soon Minato knew there'd be hell to pay. A sigh escaping his lips he leaned on the chain-linked fence with utter defeat; there had to be something out there for him to use, something that would do the trick! Curling his small, long fingers around the chained-links he furrowed his dark eyebrows in annoyance._

_He truly wished at that moment there was no fence to hold him back. Then suddenly, just as he had begun to debate on climbing it, he heard the small shuffling of books. Slowly turning around, his usual blank look adorned on his face, his dark eyes immediately locked on the somewhat rough looking boy sitting down before him._

_He tried to recall if he'd seen the boy before but ended up failing; perhaps he was a senior? Whatever he was he was looking right back at him._

_"Ya' look stressed. Need somethin' to help 'ya chill?" The older looking boy flicked out a lighter and a small pack of something._

_Minato stood unblinking, the music from his MP3 player still going full blast and strong. The senior, if that was correct, was strange, though he supposed he couldn't talk; after all he was silent and never spoke unless spoken too, plus gave off a.. weird vibe, if that was the word. He gave a small nod, his eyelids drouping into a somewhat bored expression._

_The other boy chuckled. "A'ight then. Come 'ere." He patted the space next to him on the concrete bench with a smirk._

"What a strange way of talking," _Minato thought as he complied, _"Though I'm much worse than that myself."

_After sitting down the other handed Minato a... cigarette? Minato looked away hesistantly. The boy raised an unkept eyebrow in return._

_"What? Never smoked 'fore?" He looked as though he was about to laugh. Minato simply shook his head, still looking away. The boy was starting to irratate him a bit._

_"Aw man, you've been missin' out!" This prompted him to light the cigarette witht a grin. "Now then, get crackin'!"_

_With cold hands that began to shake a bit Minato carefully watched the older boy pull out his own 'cig, not even daring to blink as he observed the other smoking. He wanted to see exactly how it was done and didn't want to make a fool out of himself. Plus the guy already lit one up for him.. and Minato knew these things weren't cheap._

"What's the harm?" _Minato had thought before putting the cigarette to his lips._

* * *

Oh, how there was so much. All the smoking was doing a total on his lungs and he knew it. He was out of breath faster, which defiantly made the team suffer in Tartarus, and too much running made him feel like he was going to have a heart attack.

He knew the risks, the problems smoking caused, but did it anyway. No one to blame but himself he supposed. And now that he started, quitting was going to be hard; from what he could tell his addiction was getting worse. If he even skipped out on one smoke break he got a horrible, painful headache that wouldn't let up until he smoked.

At this rate all his money would be down the drain, and he wouldn't be able to buy any equipment for his team.

It was then that the sudden jolt of icy water struck Minato out of his thoughts; now he'd have to finish his shower in freezing water! Silently cursing under his breath he washed up as fast as he could, irratated at the shampoo that refused to come out of certain parts of his hair, and nearly jumping out when he was finished.

Gathering his clothes and MP3 player he dragged himself back to his room, unlocking the door with a bit of difficulty. He tossed the clothes on the floor, out of the way of course, and gently sat his music player on his desk with care. His was still moving quite laggy though, his eyes beginning to flutter shut if he stayed still for too long.

_"I'm more tired than I thought.." _Minato mumbled before crawling into bed. Hopefully tomorrow would bring better results.

* * *

Yes, hi, I finally updated. u v u

Ha ha, this looked so much longer in Word. This.. disappoints me. Anyway, this was supposed to be muuuuch longer, but I decided to just stop it here for now. Be proud of me guys, I wrote six pages front and back for this fanfic!

There isn't much going on here, ahhh. At least you guys know how he started now? I'm sorry for the lack of Aki, but don't fear, next chapter's he's having muuch more time! C8

Tell me what you think so far~


	3. Chapter 3

The urge to thow the alarm clock was growing as Minato forced himself up as best as he could. Checking the clock brought an irratated look to the blue-haired boy's face.

_5:57 AM._

With a grunt Minato got up and begun to get ready for school, staggering over to the fan first to turn it off. He only took a few steps away before turning back around to close the window; he'd been getting forgetful lately with closing it and had even gotten a scolding from Mitsuru about it earlier that week.

Normally in this situation one would attempt to go back to sleep but Minato knew better at this point. Lately for the teen it was impossible for him to truly get rest, and trying to go back to sleep after waking up was useless. Pharos randomly popping in his room in the middle of the night and talking for long lengths at a time didn't help this issue either.

After throwing his things in his bag he made his way downstairs and gave a beeline towards the kitchen. Some breakfeast might help...

Rolling up his sleeves and putting on an apron he began the process of making his pancakes. He cracked the eggs and stirred the batter in the teal bowl he picked out with ease as a small hum begun to escape his lips.

"Mom used to sing this, didn't she?" Minato asked himself as he poured the mix into a frying pan. Well.. _one _of his moms anyway. He had stayed with so many different people he couldn't barely tell one family from another.

Before he could think of which one it had been footsteps set off a small alert to him. As he quickly flipped the pancakes and ceased his humming he turned around to find a dash sleepy Mitsuru walking towards him.

"You're up early, Arisato. Working hard I see?" She crossed her petite arms with a smile.

Minato gave a nod before flipping his food again.

"I'll make more." The younger boy mumbled, silently praising himself for not stuttering at all.

"That's be a treat for everyone. I'll help out until I have to go," She grabbed an extra apron off a small rack on the kitchen wall, "Think you can handle this once I'm gone?"

Minato gave a shrug as he turned on his MP3 player; luckily, Mitsuru was able to tell what the other meant, quite used to his silent way of communication.

The red-haired girl grabbed another pan and begun working on the eggs, her motions quick and graceful. Minato couldn't help but watch her movements out of the corner of his dark eyes, feeling a bit.. envious, if that was the word, of how good she was.

For a bit silence was between the two, neither talking except for when one asked the other to hand them something. It was 6:12 AM when Mitsuru decided to speak up.

"Arisato, it's come to my attention that your performance has been suffering in battle. Have you been feeling ill?"

Minato gave a small pause before shrugging.

"I've been fine. Maybe a bit tired, but fine all in all."

One of the longest sentences he'd spoken to Mitsuru and it had mostly been a lie. He was going to feel this guilt later, he could tell.

Mitsuru gave a small look of doubt at the other for a moment before returning her attention back to the food.

"Is that so? I'm a bit relieved to hear that, but if you're that tired it might be wise to take a small break from Tartarus." She added a dash of salt to the eggs before continuing. "And if this keeps up I'll have to take you to a doctor. You've been "tired" for a while, and I wouldn't want anything serious to happen to you."

This caused the boy to pause after setting the pancake on a plate; it'd all be over if he saw a doctor. He could _not _let this happen.

"I'll be okay. Promise." Minato gave Mitsuru a sincere smile, his bangs pushed out of his face for once.

The older girl seemed relieved by this and gave a smile back.

"Tres bien! Now than, I believe we still have some more cooking to do."

For another thiry minutes the two cooked and, to which caused Minato to jolt a bit from surprise, Akihiko joined the two just moments after they were done.

"Hey." The white-haired senior greeted before getting milk from the fridge.

Minato's hand tightened around the pan handle to the point of his knuckles turning white; he could feel his pale cheeks heating up, almost in a rebellion against him. He truly hated how just being in the same room as Akihiko could ruin his composure. Minato gave a small shrug in return to the greeting, trying not to care if Akihiko saw it or not. At that moment Mitsuru put the last batch of eggs on a plate and took her apron off, setting the plate on the table afterwords.

"It's about time for me to get going. Being late to my student council meeting wouldn't look good."

As she began to leave, she abruptly turned around. "Arisato, do me a favor and wake everyone up. We don't want anyone to be late again."

"Right," He mumbled in response. Smiling at the boy Mitsuru than took off for school.

"Mitsuru's always punctual, huh?" Akihiko asked the other before taking a sip of his milk.

Minato looked away for a moment before making eye contact with the senior.

"I don't blame her. When you have a reputation you have to keep it looking good. Being late, for example, would make it bad," He gave a small pause before going on, "Or hanging out with a freak would make _you _look bad if you happened to be popular."

Akihiko remained silent for a few moments from the boy's statement. It appeared to be something he wasn't quite expecting, especially not from Minato. Right when he was going to reply said blue-haired boy shuffled out of the room and up the stairs, causing a small frown to spread across his face.

* * *

Once Minato was upstairs he decided to start with the girls section. He was leaving Junpei last no matter what, and nothing could change that decision. So he began with Yukari's room after deciding Fuuka needed more rest; she was a very fragile girl after all, and seeing as how easily she got sick needed as much sleep as she could get.

After giving a gentle knock on the door a couple of times and receiving no response, Minato began to knock louder, which was quickly heard this time by the brunette.

"Coming!" A voice called rather groggy, sounding a dash irratated if not confused.

The door was opened and out was revealed a sleepy Yukari, still adorned in her pajamas.

"Minato? What do you need at this time?" She gave a yawn and rubbed an eye before straighting her posture.

The other shuffled around a bit, looking away for a moment. "I didn't want you to be late for school, and me and Mitsuru made breakfeast.." He gave a small shrug at the end, not breaking eye contact this time with the girl.

Yukari's eyes seemed to brighten up at this statement, but why was unknown to Minato. Perhaps she liked breakfeast a lot?

"Oh! Really? If that's the case I'll be right down. I'll go wake Fuuka when I'm done."

"Actually, I was going to do that.."

Yukari patted the boy's shoulder, her smile growing wider.

_"She's been acting so weird lately.." _Minato couldn't help but think to himself.

"We should let her sleep just a bit more, don't you think? Besides, if Junpei isn't awake already you're going to have a tough time getting him up."

He couldn't argue with her on this; Junpei was a pretty heavy sleeper after all. Plus he _did _agree on letting her sleep longer..

Giving a simple nod Minato made his way to Junpei's room, trying his best to keep a straight face. Once he made his way there he waited a moment or two before attempting to knock. He **really **didn't want to do this. Taking a deep breath he started to knock on the door when it abruptly opened, to which he found his fist meeting Junpei himself.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Junpei asked the shorter boy with a raised eyebrow.

Minato was, in a word, surprised. Junpei was already dressed and was ready to go!

"Going to wake you up. But-"

"You're late on that. I'm heading to school, so if you could move?"

Minato couldn't help but give a small glare at the taller teen, who gave a harder one back.

"Me and Mitsuru also made breakfeast, but if you don't want any that's fine. More for me." With a slightly irratated shrug Minato began to walk away before Junpei decided he had something to say about that.

"If you made it, I'm definately not eating it." Junpei huffed before fast walking past the blue-haired boy.

Fast walking after him the shorter boy jumped infront of him.

"What is your _problem_? What did I do to piss you off this bad?"

Junpei nearly jumped back, not used to Minato raising his voice; especially not at him. Quickly regaining his composure Junpei looked away from the other, glaring at the wall.

"Why don't you tell me, ever-so-great-perfect-leader?"

Minato had to force himself not to backhand the teen. Instead, he shot a blank look at Junpei and put his hands in his pockets.

"Alright then. If it'll make you calm down, you can be leader for a while. I've been feeling bad anyway."

Oh, Mitsuru wouldn't be happy. Or.. well, anyone on the team. Not waiting for Junpei's response Minato quickly turned and rushed down the stairs, making a sharp turn into the kitchen as he threw the apron off with a huff. Akihiko, who had just refilled his glass of milk, eyed the other.

"Something wrong?"

"No." He said while adjusting his uniform.

Akihiko stood up, glass in hand.

"I was thinking that maybe you could jog to the shrine with me this morning. It's something I do everyday, and I thought it'd be good for you."

Minato had to rub his eyes for a moment to be able to take the statement in; this was something that could only happen in a dream! He felt like he was going to swoon! With a small smile on his face he gave a nod, softly shuffling over to the senior.

"I'd like that. But.."

Before Akihiko could ask his question he found himself inches away from Minato's face, and found his cheeks going a light red. When Minato's smile got wider Akihiko found his hand empty and found that the teen had backed up, drinking his milk right down. After he wiped his mouth Minato grabbed his bag and began to rush to the doors, leaving a slightly embarassed and baffled Akihiko behind.

"Are you coming?" He softly called out to the senior, who in turn rushed over to him.

"Alright, let's get going!"

Giving a small nod Minato proceeded to try his best to keep up with the other, not stopping until they reached their destination.

* * *

Reaching the top of the stairs Minato leaned forward, completely out of breath. Akihiko on the other hand was perfectly fine and even jogging in place.

"Tired already? How about we take a break at the swings and I get you something to drink?"

"Y-Yeah. Sounds," And here Minato took a deep breath, "Good."

"Be right back!" Akihiko called to him after dashing over to the nearest vending machine.

Minato made his way to the swings and sat down as fast as he could, trying to catch his breath. He didn't remember being _this _bad at running. This was going to be a bigger issue than he thought. Moments later he found a water bottle infront of his face, to which he quickly but gently took.

"Thanks." He mumbled to Akihiko, looking down.

Said boy gave a smile. "No problem. Have you caught your breath yet?"

Akihiko only received a small nod from him before he began to glug the water down. For a minute or two there was silence, and Akihiko wasn't liking it.

"I realized you've been here at the dorm for a while yet I don't know too much about you."

Minato looked over at the teen before looking forward.

"Nothing much _to _know. I'm pretty boring."

Akihiko shook his head. "I doubt that. Tell me your interests, and I'll see if that's really the case."

Interests? What were his interests..

"Well.. I like to cook sometimes. But," He looked down in embarassment, shoulders going up and cheeks turning red, "What I really enjoy are trains. I like reading about them, looking at them, stuff like that. I know almost everything about them too."

This earned a grin from the other.

"I wouldn't have guessed that. But Arisato, that's not boring. It's actually kinda cool."

Minato shook his head, a heavy frown spreading across his pale face.

"Not.. Not really. It's average."

And here was where an awkward silence began. Everytime Akihiko would open his mouth to say something was the exact moment Minato was about to, and this made them both look away and remain silent.

"I'm a bit surprised." Minato quietly began.

Akihiko raised a white eyebrow at the boy, his full attention on him.

"About what exactly?" He leaned forward a bit in his seat.

The blue haired boy leaned back in his seat, slowly beginning to swing back and forth. "Well," He looked up for a moment, "U_s_ually when people fir_s_t meet me they bring up my family. And, well, you didn't."

Minato wanted to smack himself once he had said that; he wasn't watching himself carefully and wound up lisping on his "s"s. Damn his speaking problems. When he felt his cheeks threating to turn red he begun to swing higher.

Akihiko's eyebrows furrowed as if he was in deep thought before he looked away.

"I.. know how that kind of stuff feels, so I didn't want to hurt you by bringing it up."

The younger teen began to slow down his swinging, gradually bringing it to a hault. He looked at Akihiko with slightly droupy eyes, barely blinking. He looked up at the sky before replying to the other.

"Thank you for that."

"It's no problem." Akihiko smiled at the boy as he leaned back, happy that Minato was smiling so big himself.

"Oh! I was meaning to ask you earlier if your class was supposed to write about what you wanted as a career." Minato stared at the other as he somewhat eagerly waited for a reply; he truly had meant to do this and wanted off the current subject.

Akihiko looked up for a second before looking back at Minato.

"Yeah. I'm not too sure what I'm going to put though.. I haven't given much thought about what I want as a career."

Minato bit his lip in thought, trying to think about what would suit him.

"_Policeman_." He eventually mumbled.

Akihiko raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"You could be a policeman. I mean, you want to protect people so.." He gave a shrug and looked forward.

Akihiko was silent in thought for a few moments before giving a nod, almost grinning.

"I think I like the sound of that. Thanks for the idea, Arisato!"

Minato shook his head. "It's nothing."

"But what about you? Maybe you could be an engineer?" The senior suggested, leaning to the other.

Minato shook his head, earning a bit of a frown from Akihiko.

"Why not?"

"Too much work. Besides, I like reading about them more than working on them." He replied quietly, being careful so as to not stutter, slur, or lisp any words.

"Do you have any other interests you could choose from?"

Minato paused and looked the other straight in the eyes.

"Well.."

* * *

Yes, hi, I'm a mean author who will leave this for the next chapter. u v u  
Forgive me for any mistakes! I have a horrible tendency to miss my errors, even after checking over it five times. ;;

And about Minato's speaking issue: I have this little headcanon that the reason he doesn't talk much is because he's embarassed about it. I also have a headcanon that after his parents died he was moved around from foster home to foster home. ' u ' I'm a horrible person, ha ha.

Also if I'm not doing a character right, I'd like to know~ I've never wrote dialoge for the S.E.E.S Team, so I'm.. not sure, fff.

I'd like to know what you guys think so far~ Suggestions would be nice, hghsg. ;; v ;;


	4. Chapter 4

"Maybe I could be a model. It's.. not exactly a normal dream for a boy though." Minato almost mumbled.

At this information Akihiko couldn't help but raise an eyebrow; he didn't mean to, but such a dream was indeed strange.

"A model? What made you consider that?" There was curiousity in his voice as he looked at the younger boy.

Minato looked up immediately after hearing the question, bashfulness taking over him. Feeling the hair prickle up on his neck he wished he hadn't said anything about that dream! He should have stuck with the idea to keep it a secret after all.

"It... wa_s_ a promi_s_e." The blue-haired boy's cheeks heated up upon realizing he hadn't stopped the lisp from coming out.

A gentle breeze began to blow as Akihiko stared at the other with arched eyebrows; he couldn't stop himself of thinking who in the team Minato could have made that promise to. It certainly couldn't be Junpei, nor could it be Mitsuru. Yukari didn't seem like the type to care about that kind of stuff and neither did Fuuka...

"If you don't mind me asking, who did you make that promise to?" Akihiko tried to look the boy in the eyes upon asking the question but it seemed as though the other wouldn't allow it.

Minato looked down at his feet, slightly kicking them together. The blush on his face faded and was soon replaced with a small pair of furrowed eyebrows. A rush of slight frustration even began to wash over him as he realized he'd let his composure go.

"Just... Promise you won't tell anyone else, okay? I'm only trusting you with this."

And, well, to Minato that was true.

Akihiko was kind and very understanding; always helping others in need and never leaving them behind. Those qualities were something Minato wished he had, as well as qualities that made him trust the senior so much.

The senior in question kept his dark eyes on the other, his face never losing that serious, stern look.

"I _promise _I'll never tell a soul. Not even if my life's on the line."

Although his eyebrows remained furrowed a small smile spread across Minato's fair face. His heart beginning to thump in his chest he finally turned to look Akihiko in his eyes, determined not to break away from eye contact this time.

"I'm pretty sure you know about my parents already.. I'd be surprised if you didn't," he brushed his hair out of his face, "But I'm sure you've never heard about my little sister."

A tilt of the head was Akihiko's response at first, his grey eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Little sister...? I've never heard of you having one before.. " His voice was rather quiet, something he hadn't intended.

Gving a small nod and taking a deep breath the junior continued on.

"Her name was Minako. My parents had wanted our names to be similar, and because of that people would often get our names mixed up." A pause. "Minako... was popular I guess. People loved her and always enjoyed her company. She was always making sure to include me though."

Minato hadn't intended for his voice to sound so cross; it was only after he finished speaking that he realized the said tone. He shook his head, wanting to just end the conversation right there.

Now, during the explaination, Akihiko had noticed some that made him feel very uneasy.

"Did something happen to her? I mean, using past-tense to tell me all of this..."

At that moment Minato's already pale face became even lighter, his dark eyes wavering in want to look away. It took all that the junior had to keep the eye contact.

"A bit after our parents died she got sick. It was weird since she rarely got sick, but I didn't think much of it. I thought she'd get better soon, like she always did. But.."

Minato shook his head before biting his lip.

"She went to sleep and never woke up. She was only twelve."

A bitter taste filled Akihiko's mouth as he let those words sink in. It all reminded him of Miki, only the situation being different. In truth the senior would have never guessed the Minato had a sister, nor would he have guessed she'd die in such a way; and the fact that the younger boy trusted him enough to tell him this made his heart swell. Now the question was how he should reply to him.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with such a thing. I..." And this was where he trailed off.

Luckily for him Minato decided to continue after that small silence.

"Minako told me she wanted to be a model when she grew up. At the time I thought it was silly, but now I realize how much it meant to her," Minato broke eye contact and looked up at the sky, "So that's why I want to do it for her."

It was the first time the blue haired boy had spoken to him for so long, so loud and sure. Akihiko couldn't help but admire such determination.

"I'm sure she's thankful for this. Once you get to your dream she'll be smiling wide, huh?"

Minato couldn't stop himself from staring intently at the senior's comforting smile, nor could he stop that pounding in his chest. Giving a small cough, for both show and by accident, the junior composed himself and stood.

"I wouldn't be _s_urprised if she'_s_ smiling already, _S_anada-san. _Sh_e's an optimi_s_tic girl after all."

And there was when the slurring and lisping started up, causing him to clench his jaw up.

Akihiko got up as well with a large smile on his face.

"We should be heading off, right?" The older boy asked while adjusting his tie.

Minato simply gave a nod and grabbed his bad, that blank look back on his face per usual.

As Minato begun to follow the senior his eyes suddenly glazed over, a small shattering sound ringing in his ears. Continuing to follow Akihiko he couldn't stop a small smile from spreading on his face.

_"His social link's rank is level five now." _The blue haired boy happily thought to himself.

* * *

School was unusual that day. For the longest time Junpei had been pissed off and rather grouchy, but today he was in a much better mood, something Minato suspected had to do with him letting the other be leader. It was something that he didn't quite understand; what was so fun about being leader anyway? There was always pressure on you, and if you made the wrong choice everyone was bond to pay one way or another. If you weren't careful you could even get someone killed, and that was something that was to be avoided at all costs.

With a small sigh the blue haired teen cranked up the volume on his MP3 player, still a bit tired from the morning run. That, and he wasn't able to get a cigarette in yet. He was sure that was going to backfire on him some way or another. Right when he began to debate if he should try to go have a smoke during lunch a hand slammed on his desk, making him flinch. When he looked up he found a rather unhappy Yukari frowning at him.

"What's this I'm hearing about Junpei being leader? Tell me you didn't seriously make him that!" She sounded as though she wanted to screech.

"It's only for a day." Minato mumbled as he fiddled with his pencil.

Yukari's face seemed to soften for a moment before getting scrunched up again.

"But who knows what he's going to do! He might get us killed for Christ's sake!"

Right when Minato was going to reply to the girl he was greeted with a rather painful smack on the shoulder.

"Hey, Minato! Doin' good?"

_"Well, speak of the devil," _the blue haired boy thought to himself before adding aloud, "You seem happy."

Junpei couldn't get that large grin off his face nor could he get that rather cocky tone out of his voice.

"You're damn right I am! I _finally _get to be leader, even if it's just for a bit! This is pretty much the best day of my life, man."

Yukari let out a scoff.

"When we go to Tartarus try not to get us killed, okay Stupei?" The junior remarked as she crossed her arms.

"Pff, like that'll happen, Yuka-tan. Geez, have some faith in me!"

Minato himself almost let out a scoff before stopping himself, not wanting to envoke more wrath upon himself from the other boy. Taking in a deep breath and keeping a straight face the teen stood and pushed his chair under his desk, his hands going into his pockets.

"I have to go to the bathroom." The blue haired boy mumbled before quickly shuffling away.

He would just have a quick smoke, just one, and keep it at that for the rest of the day.

* * *

As it turned out that was much easier said than done. While the team was heading to Tartarus that night Junpei couldn't stop bouncing around or stop trying to brag about being leader for the night. Mitsuru raised an eyebrow at Minato in response to all the commotion, to which Minato gave her a sheepish smile back.

Once they were settled at the entrance it was time to choose members, something Minato refused to allow Junpei to do, claiming "You'll get us killed if you choose the wrong person for the floor we're on!". So that was why, in the end, the team ended consisting of Minato, Junpei, Yukari, and Akihiko. Junpei at first thought of protesting this decistion but didn't want his chance to be leader revoked; he'd been wanting this since the very first day after all, and if he messed up this chance he'd be pretty pissed at himself.

When the team had reached the floor they had last explored Junpei's grin slowly faded; what would he do now? He flashed a questioning look at Minato.

"You're the leader," Was all the blue haired teen mumbled as he looked away.

With a glare Junpei cleared his throat, his grin coming back. "Alright team, let's split up and see what we can find!"

Uneasiness washed over Minato as everyone went seperate ways; in truth the place seemed to be a bit high leveled for them, and the thought of someone running into a monster by themselves was a rather scary thought. He always made sure everyone was strong enough on their own, but Junpei seemed to not even give that a single thought.

_"I really hope he doesn't kill anyone." _Minato thought to himself as he rounded a corner, tighting his grip on his sword.

Now, there was something Minato thought was strange after rounding a couple of more corners: there wasn't any Shadows around so far. Usually the floors would be full of them but to have it be empty was.. somewhat scary. Just what were the little bastards planning? It was right when he was in the middle of his thoughts that a voice startled him.

"Everyone, be careful! I'm sensing an extremely powerful Shadow!" Fuuka called out, her voice filled with worry.

With a small sigh Minato rushed to find the team, feeling rather irratated as he did so; of _course _this would happen when Junpei was leader. This was just wonderful.

When he caught sight of his teammates grouped up he attempted to call out, something which he was unable to do seeing as he was thrown into a wall from behind.

"Minato!"

The blue haired teen wasn't sure who had called out, everything being a bit foggy before his head cleared, pain rushing through his back.

"_God damn it._" He mumbled as Yukari began to help him.

"Are you okay? Come on, let me get you away from here." After the girl had helped him up Minato shrugged her off and made his way towards Junpei, struggling not to show any pain.

"Junpei, what're we doing? Are we going to take action or flee back to the entrance?" Minato's stern, loud tone seemed to startle Junpei for a moment before he regained his composure.

"W-We.. We'll fight it of course! We can take it out easy!"

"Alright then." Minato replied as he switched his sword to his other hand.

Akihiko shot a glare at the junior.

"Are you crazy? This thing's way stronger than us!"

"Akihiko's right," Yukari chimed in with a look of worry, "If it can take out Minato than we should retreat."

That little remark made Junpei give a huff and a glare being given to said blue haired teen. As the three began to get into an arguement Minato gave a sigh and made his way back towards the Shadow, fully taking in how large it was.

Taking a slice at the Shadow he quickly jumped back in time to avoid a swing from the thing, the atmosphere beginning to fill with its rage. With a determined look the former leader began to charge forward once more before a sicking noise echoed through out the floor.

Quickly snapping their heads the rest of the team looked just in time to see the Shadow's long, blade-like hand go through Minato's stomach, blood dripping from his mouth as he was flung away into a wall once more. It was then that Junpei truly took in how serious the role of the leader was, how playing around was an extremely unwise descision.

"Everyone please run back to the entrance! We need to get Minato help immediately!" Fuuka cried out, sounding quite desperate this time.

"Damn it!"

Akihiko rushed over to the injured boy, picking him up as quickly as he could before dashing towards a nearby device.

"_Junpei, come on!_" Yukari screeched before grabbing the boy's arm, her eyes wide with fear as the Shadow let out an aggitated howl.

It was right before the thing's arm hit Junpei that the group was teleported back to the entrance, relief washing over them before the situation turned back to Minato.

Mitsuru and Fuuka rushed over to the others, the red headed senior immediately checking his injury.

"We need to apply pressure to the wound. If he bleeds out anymore he won't make it!"

Junpei wasn't sure he would be able to move at first seeing as he felt himself go clammy, but before he knew it he found his arms quickly stripping himself of his jacket and his legs going over to the injured junior, wrapping the piece of clothing around the wound before applying pressure as best as he could.

Minato couldn't stop himself from wimpering in pain as he gripped Akihiko's hand with all his might, the senior in question not minding one bit. Gently moving a strand of hair out of his face Akihiko gave the younger teen a nervous, somewhat forced smile.

"You're gonna be okay, alright? We're going to get you help soon."

Minato tried to open his mouth to speak but instead found himself giving a loud cough. Wincing in pain the teen looked over to Junpei, shooting him a forced yet sincere grin.

"Heh, don't crying Junpei. Y-you're the leader after all." Minato's words seemed stressed and it didn't help that he inhaled sharply after speaking to the teen.

"I-I'm not crying. Just don't_ talk_, alright?" The hat wearing teen almost sounded hysterical, wanting to wipe the tears off his face but instead kept applying pressure.

Even though Minato tried his best to understand what everyone was saying he found everything to be foggy, their voices sounding extremely far away. With his vision beginning to fade as Mitsuru seemed to be talking to him he gave a quivering frown.

"I'll wake up in a bit, alright?"

After giving those strained, mumbled words the former leader found himself slipping away, feeling himself being lifted for a moment before completely blacking out.

* * *

I'm sorry for not updating in a while; school keeps you very busy, ahhhh.

Did I capture everything right? I'm a bit worried that the fight scene sounds rushed. ; ; v ;;' I'd also like to thank a reviewer for giving me the idea for the whole Tartarus thing. u v u

Also now that I look back at this, this is pretty short... Why do I feel depressed that I made a lot happen in only a short chapter? Ahh.

I promise next chapter that you guy's will see Junpei flipping out a whole lot more! It's late right now so I don't have enough time to add anymore to this. *cries*

What do you guys think so far? C8


	5. Chapter 5

It was very dark, cold, and lonely.

Usually when he slept like this it ended with a trip to The Velvet Room but this time everything was much different.

Instead of being taken to the familiar elevator Minato felt himself almost being violently swayed back and forth in the dark place he was, gripping himself to try to keep from being smacked around too much by whatever force was attacking him. It was.. strange though. Even though he felt so lonely in the dark place and felt as if his body was cold as ice it was, at the same time, comforting. He couldn't quite place his finger on why it was. So _very _strange it was, to feel like this.

Was he more lonely or was he enjoying the comfort more? It was something that he couldn't choose. He eventually decided as he sat down that perhaps it was the loneliness that was providing the comfort. Minato now at least had the time to come to terms with all the he had been feeling the past months. No one could interrupt his thoughts here as far as he could tell so he decided that nothing was holding him back from the task. Taking a deep breath, which was somewhat painful to do, he closed his sore eyes and began to think.

The anxiety had begun to wash over him shortly after arriving to the dorm; though if he were to be honest with himself he supposed he'd always been anxious. Minato wasn't sure if he was born this way or if it occured after the death of his parents but whatever the case was he knew it was much too strong at times to deal with. Although he acted indifferent and as if nothing really striked him the truth was that every second he was around his friends, even Akihiko, the anxiousness would build up to the point where he was sure he would lose control. Now that he looked at it perhaps that was the reason he was always quick to retreat to his room.

It would also explain why his throat would tighten up just in the simple situation of being asked a small question. Whenever that happened he'd feel some fear rush over him, a tinge of uneasiness that he'd somehow answer it wrong and anger the person whom had asked him it. He'd have to keep his hands in his pockets to hide their clamy look and sweatyness, to even keep from embarassing himself.

When he continued to think about those details he than took into account of how much he spent with other people; that was, people which weren't on the SEES team. Upon scrunching his eyebrows together he realized he was almost _never _the one to strike up a meeting or conversation with his teammates. With other people, his other social links to be exact, he was the one to strike something up half the time. Much more than what happened with the team.

Minato thought of Kenji for example, his classmate who although pulled a stupid stunt with a teacher still ended up being his best friend ever. There were many times and counting where he'd asked the boy first if he wanted to hang out, or if he wanted to get some food together. If it had been one of his teammates he wouldn't have even attempted such a thing. And this small thought led to another, perhaps much different and bigger one:

Knowing that he was prone to act this way, how did his team _really _feel about him?

Surely there was something else lurking underneath all that praise and behind those smiles and laughter. He was rude and antisocial, something which was opposite of all of the team. He knew he stuck out and he defiantly knew that he wasn't going to be able to get away with acting like that forever. So.. why hadn't his teammates said anything to him? Did they brush it off as him just getting used to the new setting, or maybe because of his past?

Now he was beginning to feel nervous as a ball of anxiety began to arise in his stomach. Or at least that's what he thought it was. Usually when he began to get anxious about something a weird feeling would begin in his stomach but this was.. this was different.

_Painful_ even.

And this pain which was beginning to increase gradually was something that began to snap him out of his weird little daze. As Minato began to take the pain more and more into account he could hear the faint sound of voices, though it was impossible for him to hear whatever was being said. He then found it extremely difficult to open his eyes back up; no matter how hard he tried they just won't open all the way! What had happened..?

"_Wait,_" Minato began to himself, "_Am I supposed to be sleeping? Or.. waking up maybe? Shit, what's going on?_"

After struggling for what seemed to be hours he finally managed to open his dark eyes and, to his surprise, was soon surrounded by nurses and doctors. He couldn't make out what all they were saying, though their voices were _much _closer now, and the bit of nausea he was feeling wasn't helping at all. The doctors and nurses seemed to go on for hours doing little things here and there; checking his pulse, making sure to fix the IV, and even attempting to talk to Minato. The latter didn't work all that well and ended with them, from what the blue haired boy could tell, leaving him alone to give him some time.

Once they had all left he gave an effort to get up which only resulted in him wincing in pain and laying back down immediately. Giving a grunt he gently pulled the covers off and lightly pulled up the hospital gown to reveal a large line of stitches on his stomach and even some heavy bandages here and there. Minato couldn't stop a loud groan from slipping out upon seeing the sight. It looked so _awful _and especially _DISGUSTING._ He quickly threw the gown back down and placed the covers back over him.

Well, at least seeing that had reminded him of what had happened. With a small gulp, something which hadn't worked all that well seeing as his mouth was so terribly dry, he moved his hair out of his pale face and looked to the monitor besides him. The beeping wasn't all that bad and was in fact somewhat soothing, though on closer inspected he figured out why it was somewhat slow; he was drowsy. Why he hadn't realized it immediately was beyond him. Minato tried to shrug it off by telling himself that it was simple the medicine they'd given him and turned his head away.

Speaking of medicine what all had they given him? Feeling nausea, drowsy, and having a dry mouth all in one wasn't fun at all and he wasn't willing to put up with the symptoms for much longer. Especially the dry mouth. He had already been getting a slight case of that from the smoking and he didn't need some stupid medicine to make it worse damn it!

But wait.

Hold on.

Suddenly he gripped his chest as tightly as he could which, honestly, wasn't all that tight. He was at a hospital. He had gotten surgery.

That means the doctors had examined him.

That meant they must have found out about his lungs.

"_Shit!_" The teen screamed in his head as he balled his small fist up into his shirt. This was just great! Fucking great!

"Now they're gonna know!" Minato angryly mumbled under his soft breath as he covered his face with his other hand. He quickly took the hand off to see how late it was on the nearby clock:

4:00 AM.

"_Alright,_" he began in his head, "_That means visitor hours aren't available yet. Plus considering the fact that I'm hooked up to more than one machine I'm guessing I'm in critical care. That's.. that's good. Maybe I won't get any visitors since I'm in such bad shape._"

Just as the teen had finished that thought he heard footsteps coming close to the door which prompted him to quickly shut his eyes and pretend to be asleep. He was expecting more doctors or nurses but was quite surprised to hear a quiet, gentle voice of a girl.

"Hehe, I know you're not asleep Minato. You need to actually rest if you want to get better, okay?" The gentle voice asked as her hand touched his.

It was soft.

Familiar.

It was as if it were a touch he had been longing for for years.

Slightly opening his eyes he was shocked to find an auburn haired girl standing next to him in a red night gown, her rosy cheeked face covered in a sweet smile. And that smile was one he would _never _forget no matter what.

"Mina-" Before he could finish the girl placed a delicate finger on his pale lips, that smile growing ever so softer.

"Just sleep." She urged before lightly sitting down on the bed and placing her small hand on his bruised cheek.

Minato wasn't sure if it was real or not but he wasn't about to really question it; he had longed to hear her voice for so long, to feel that soft hand that was just like his once more. If this were just because of the drugs or because he was dreaming he didn't care. He wanted to stay like this forever, to never be seperated from her again.

He was sure that as he slipped back to sleep from the lullaby she sang to him he could feel her drift away, whether it be from simple fading or just moving away quietly he wasn't sure. All he really knew was that for the first time in a long time he let a bright smile, although small, cover that pale face of his.

* * *

This is all I have to offer after all this time because I'm a jerk. ;;;; Basically he's alive but he was a liiiiittle too close to death, huh? Also I'll leave it up to you guys to decided whether Minako was really there or was just a hallucination. u v u I'll have another chapter up in a day or two so I guess look forward to that? ;v;' 'tkillhimoffopps.


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